Hong Kong beat Argentina by 7 wickets in the opening round
Hong Kong kicked off their campaign at the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in emphatic style as they beat hosts Argentina by seven wickets.
Hong Kong Cricket Association
24-Jan-2009
| ||
Argentina won the toss and opted to bat first in hot and sunny conditions, that saw temperatures climb to 34 degrees celsius. However the Argentine batsmen failed to get on top of the Hong Kong bowling attack and they were contained throughout their innings. A cautious opening stand of 29 was eventually broken when Roy Lamsam had player/coach Hamish Barton caught behind for 12 - the first of six dismissals on the day by James Atkinson behind the stumps. Wickets tumbled at regular intervals as the hosts failed to make any headway against Hong Kong's spinners. Argentina crawled their way to a total of 107 all out from 47.5 overs with Matias Paterlini and Gary Savage the only batsmen to offer any real resistance with 26 runs apiece. All of Hong Kong's bowlers picked up wickets but it was Nadeem Ahmed who claimed the best figures with 3-25 from 9.5 overs while Najeeb Ahmed and Moner Ahmed grabbed two wickets each. James Atkinson's haul included four catches and two stumpings.
Hong Kong opened their innings with Najeeb Amar and Irfan Ahmed but the pair could only muster 16 runs before Najeeb was caught out for 9 from the bowling of Pablo Ryan. Ifan fell in a similar fashion with the score on 30 after which Hong Kong solidified their position with a 36-run stand between Zain Abbas and Hussain Butt. Zain played the sheet-anchor role while Hussain blasted away at the other end, scoring 20 from 22 balls, including four boundaries. Hong Kong reached their winning target in the 28th over with Zain on 34 not out from 79 deliveries and skipper Tabarak Dar unbeaten on 13 from 28 deliveries.
James Atkinson was named Player of the Match for his impressive glove-work.
Hong Kong's comfortable victory and good run-rate leaves them in a solid position after the first round of matches and they will face Afghanistan in their second match, in a repeat of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 Final. The Afghani's, considered one of the pre-tournament favourites and garnering all the media attention, suffered a 14-run loss to Uganda in their opening fixture. Papua New Guinea were the other victors on day one as they beat Cayman Islands by six wickets.
Related links: